{Private} The forgotten item

The girl listens carefully as her friend explains about his disability. It felt so odd to her - after all, the reasons they were in the school couldn't be more different. I forget about it sometimes honestly, he told her. Nayumi often wished that she could forget about her disability too, but she couldn't, not even for a second. Even when she was alone and didn't need to hide her body from others, she still felt it... or rather, didn't feel it. This constant lack of sensation, the eternal silence that was not broken by the beating of her heart, and even her inability to breathe all served as reminders of everything that most people take for granted, yet was forcibly stolen away from her. "I see..." she whispers quietly and adjusts her bandana a bit.

You don't mind if I sit next to you do you?, Taizai asks. The girl looks at him and shakes her head. "No, not at all" she spoke, wishing she could add a smile to that sentence just to make it perfectly clear that she really did not mind it. As long as he didn't touch her, Nayumi was completely okay with him being a bit closer to her than normal. After all, she didn't want to make her guest feel even more uncomfortable than he already did.

"Okay, just let me know if you feel uncomfortable."

He smiles and rests his head against her wall.

"So Tachibana-san, are you enjoying your time here?"

He looks over at her and looks in her eyes deeply to show he cares.

Nayumi simply nods when Taizai tells her to let him know if she felt uncomfortable. She was kind of surprised at how gentle and careful he was. After all, that was the same guy who had outright asked her what her disability was just yesterday! Hmm, maybe he simply didn't know how sensitive she was back then... Maybe all he needed was another chance, and Nayumi felt glad that she gave it to him.

So Tachibana-san, are you enjoying your time here?, he asks her. The girl didn't quite understand what he meant - was he talking about her time at school, or her time with him in her room? Hopefully, he wasn't asking about the latter - that would have been pretty embarrassing for both of them? "You mean, do I like the school?" she asks carefully. "It's... nice, I guess. I expected people to ridicule me when I first arrived, but most of them are really careful not to offend me. I suppose this school is a lot better than normal ones, but... I'd have still preferred to not go at all, if I had the choice"

"I see...I wouldn't want to go either...but you gotta do what you gotta do..."

He closes his eyes for a few seconds while still leaning against the wall.

"You know I consider you a friend right Tachibana-san?"

"A friend..." Nayumi repeats quietly and turns her head to face the boy. She never really had a friend before... It was certainly a weird experience for her, but it wasn't one she was willing to miss out on. "I see..." she says to him. "I consider you a friend too!"

Suddenly, a something occurs to the girl - if the two are now friends, then him calling her 'Tachibana-san' was a bit too formal... "Um... You can just call me Nayumi from now on... If you want... And I'll just call you Taizai, okay?" she speaks out, a bit unsure of herself. Since her experience with friendship was so limited, she wasn't exactly sure about how friends should call each other, and she was hoping that she got it right.

"You sure it's okay to call you Nayumi, Nayumi?"

He looks over and smiles at her upon hearing her call her a friend.

"Try saying that three times fast. NayumiNayumiNumee..."

He laughs at his tongue twister.

"I certainly can't."

The girl closes her eyes and giggles when when she hears her new friend mess up with the tongue twister. "S-sorry, I didn't get to pick my name!" she says and looks back at him playfully. "My mother told me she named me after some surgeon friend of hers... or something. I'm not quite sure!" the girl explains, trying to remember the details about what she was told, but it seemed so distant to her... Like a lifetime away.

"What about you?" Nayumi looks back at him. "Taizai is a pretty unusual name... What's the story behind it?"

"I like your name Nayumi. As for mine..."

He tries to find an interesting way of explaining but comes up short as he shrugs.

"It's just the name my dad gave me...said it didn't feel right calling me Kurai Junior. I don't see why, it is a pretty cool name."

He shrugs as he recalls the origin of his name.

"I like it, it's pretty unique I think. What do you think?"

"Yeah, I like your name!" Nayumi nods. "A bit unusual, but... I think your father made a good choice!"

The girl looked down at her feet, suddenly being reminded of her own father. That man never saw her as a daughter. He never loved her, or cared for her... He didn't even give her a name! And she would never, ever forgive what he did to her. All of this suffering and humiliation that she had to go through was all his fault! She hated that man almost as much as she hated herself.

"He must have loved you..." Nayumi says quietly, then closes her eyes and hugs her knees.

"Yeah...he does..."

He notices her change in tone and the way she acts.

"Nayumi...are you okay?"

He places his hand on her closest shoulder and feels the hard surface.

Jeez...her prosthetic goes this far up her arm? I can't imagine what that must be like.

The girl quickly turns her head towards Taizai and looks at him. She didn't appreciate him touching her at all, but was a bit reluctant to tell him. After all, this would probably give him the wrong impression, and besides, the damage had already been done. Still, her friend did tell her to let him know if he was making her feel uncomfortable. "Um, Taizai..." she speaks carefully. "I, um... don't really like it when people touch me... Y-you can probably feel why..."

"Sorry Nayumi...it was uncalled for."

He frowns a tad bit before removing his hand.

"I do feel why...I understand, it must have been tough dealing with that."

He smiles to show that he does indeed understand

Tough? Tough didn't even begin to describe it! Ever since she got this body, every single moment of Nayumi's life had been a living hell! The girl feels like she's going to cry, but this time, she can't help it. She presses her face against her knees and just lets the tears fall, hoping that Taizai wouldn't see. "Yeah... It was tough..." she says, her artificial voice barely reflecting the change in her mood. Nayumi closes her eyes. Crying felt good. She hadn't done so in a few days, and she was glad to finally get all of those emotions out of her system. It just sucked that it had to happen in front of her new friend, but she couldn't really help it.

He notices she is crying even before she brings her knees to her face.

"Nayumi...I'm sorry."

He softly hugs her even though he was just told she doesn't like being touched.

"I didn't mean to make you cry, please stop."

Nayumi shuts her eyes even more tightly when she realizes he's hugging her. She couldn't exactly feel his touch, but she sensed his arms around her body. That was it... There was no way he wouldn't find out the truth about her body now. This is exactly what Nayumi was afraid of - even after hiding herself so well, she still knew that sooner or later, her secret would come out... she just didn't expect it to be THIS soon. That's why she warned him not to touch her, but he went ahead and did it anyway... Yet somehow, she couldn't bring herself to be mad at him. The only one she blamed was herself. "I'm such a freak..." she says quietly and continues to cry, her face still firmly pressed against her knees.

"No you aren't Nayumi...no you aren't."

He continues holding her as he speaks softly to calm her down. He realizes her other arm is just as hard.

Prosthetics on both arms?! I fucked up worse than I thought...dammit Taizai. But why is it feeling as cold as metal? Something is up here...but I don't want to offend her.

After a few seconds of thinking to himself he finally musters up some courage to ask her despite possibly offending her.

"Nayumi...can I see your arms?"

Nayumi doesn't say anything. Of course she was a freak. Her friend just didn't think so because he hadn't seen her without clothes. If only he could see the cold, intimidating metal that had replaced most of her skin, he would most certainly run away from her. Nayumi never asked for this. She never wanted to undergo all these surgeries, she never wanted to be anything but normal! Why did this have to happen to her?!? Thoughts like that quickly pass through her head as she keeps crying silently.

Nayumi...can I see your arms?, Taizai asks her. The girl lifts her head up and looks at him, her eyes and bandana wet from the tears. Was he serious?!? Did he really expect her to... show him? How could he be so insensitive?!? Maybe her impression of him was wrong after all... "I think you should leave now, Taizai" she tells him, not at all liking where that little visit of his was going.

"I...I'm sorry..."

He looks more sincere than ever as he stands up and walks over to put his shoes back on.

"I'll see you in class Tachibana-san..."

He doesn't look at her when he says that out of guilt and shame. He opens the door and walks out, closing it quietly behind him.

Nayumi silently watches as Taizai puts his shoes back on and leaves her all alone again. She pulls the bandana off from her face and uses it to wipe her tears away, then takes her jacket off and hangs it up on the coat hanger. She turns around and prepares to take her pants off as well when something catches her gaze. Nayumi averts her eyes and takes a long look at her own reflection in the mirror. She never really liked looking at herself when she was naked and exposed like that. She usually used the mirror only after she was already dressed, to do some final adjustments to her outfit before heading out. Seeing her real, unhidden self like that made her feel... ugly. Nayumi quickly turns away, barely resisting the urge to smash the damn thing with her bare fist, then throws herself on the bed and presses her face against the pillow before her tears start running again.